1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to data processing systems including processing circuitry for executing program instructions together with dedicated function hardware coupled to the processing circuitry for performing a dedicated processing operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide data processing systems which include both a general purpose processor for executing a stream of program instructions together with dedicated function hardware. The dedicated function hardware may, for example, be accelerator hardware designed and provided to perform specific processing functions, such as compression or decompression of large quantities of media data. Another example would be a general purpose processor which is provided with a coprocessor for performing certain operations. In this case, if the coprocessor is not present in an implementation, then software seeking to utilise that coprocessor will typically trigger an exception and cause the processing that was to be performed by the coprocessor (dedicated function hardware) to instead be performed by emulation software running on the general purpose processor. Thus, the use of the coprocessor is dependent upon whether or not the coprocessor is present.